‘He was the difference tonight’ – Wenzel-Halls laments Brisbane’s inaccuracy as Izzo stars for the Reds

Brisbane Roar striker Dylan Wenzel-Halls believes his side ‘battered’ Adelaide United for long periods of their 1-0 loss on Sunday night, and would have come out victorious if not for the heroics of Paul Izzo in goal for the Reds.

Izzo made eight saves on the night he began his commitment to donating $20 to The Childhood Cancer Association for each save he makes from here to the end of the 2019/20 Hyundai A-League campaign, an inspiring initiative matched by his inspirational form for the Reds in a win which snapped their four-game losing streak.

Nothing was getting past @P_izzo tonight ✋⠀
⠀#BRIvADL #FootballReturns #ALeague #AUFC pic.twitter.com/CoBb2Pmh7B

— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) July 19, 2020

Despite Brisbane’s dominance of possession and shots on goal (22 to 10 on the night) Adelaide came out on top thanks to Kristian Opseth’s sixth-minute winner.

Speaking to FOX Sports after the match, Wenzel-Halls paid full credit to Izzo for his contribution to Adelaide’s win in their first hit-out since the relaunch of the 2019/20 Hyundai A-League season.

“I think I’ve had two or three chances where he’s pulled out some good saves,” Wenzel-Halls said.

“He was the difference tonight for them.

“We battered them for long periods, another keeper in goals and we’d probably do them.

“We had our chances, we were dominant for long periods, I think it just didn’t click in the final third.

“We’re just looking forward to next week, we’re going to do that one right.”

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While Izzo’s performance highlighted his individual quality, the 25-year-old was quick to point out the reality that his frequent involvement in the contest points to certain defensive frailties which will need to be ironed out if his side hope to hold onto their place in the top six, which they gained on Sunday night at the expense of Western United with a crucial three points.

“We can count ourselves pretty lucky as well tonight,” Izzo told FOX Sports.

“Confidence-wise, in the past we would have lost that game.

“It’s obviously good we got the win and we’ve got time now before the next game to fix those little gaps we’re leaving.

“Hopefully next game whenever it is we’ll put on a better defensive performance.”

The Red’s return to winning ways came under the tutelage of interim Head Coach Carl Veart, who took the reins at Adelaide for the first time against Brisbane at CBUS Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.

The former Adelaide striker and assistant coach says although his side rode their luck at times in their contest with the Roar, they ultimately earned all three points thanks to their fantastic defensive discipline.

“I’m very pleased,” Veart said after his first game at the helm for the Reds.

“At times we rode our luck tonight but the boys fought really hard, were very disciplined and we’ve come away with the three points, which was the main thing.

“We knew in the second half we were going to start to run out of legs.

“The main thing, I said to the boys, I didn’t want the pitch to get opened up so the boys took it a little bit literally and sat a bit too deep for our liking.

“Hats off to them, they defended the goal fantastically.

“I really enjoyed it tonight, it was excellent – especially getting the three points.”